This document provides best practices and guidelines for LinkedIn marketing solutions focused on higher education. It covers messaging, design, testing, and lead collection recommendations for ads. It also discusses using sponsored polls and content units. Guidelines are provided for using sponsored InMail, including keeping messages brief and focused on direct calls to action. The document concludes with a link to the Inadmissible advertising policy and ad specifications.

1. Creative Best Practices
Marketing Solutions for Higher Education
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2. Outline
 Messaging
 Design
 Testing
 Lead Collection
 Sponsored Polls
 Content Units
 InMail
 Inadmissible Advertising
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3. Messaging
Ads that perform best are relevant to the target audience and are written with clear and
compelling language
 Choose words that grab the attention of your target audience
– Give members a reason to click through; differentiate your ad by highlighting special
offers, unique benefits of the program, rankings, upcoming info sessions, etc.
– Include a strong call to action, e.g. Learn More, Sign up, Request Information
 Speak directly to your target audience to make an instant connection
– E.g., if you’re targeting finance professionals, include relevant messaging and use
industry-specific language they’ll relate to
 Focus on one compelling message or key take-away
– Cluttered banners with too many messages are hard to read and easy to gloss over
– Be sure to review the message in the size it will appear on the page for a user –
everything should be legible and crisp at this size
– Avoid including phone numbers
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4. Design Guidelines
 Animated Ads, the Any Second Principle
– Consider that not all viewers will see the full loop
– Avoid ads with build up frames that only make sense on the end frame
(“reveal” ads)
– Branding / School Name / CTA should be on each frame
– Static ads can be just as effective as animated units
 Background Color
– Border required with white and transparent backgrounds
– White or gray background ads should be avoided since our site has a white
background and colored ads tend to stand out more
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5. Testing
 Try creating different ad variations
– We can easily do A/B testing if you’d like to rotate messages to compare Calls to Action,
design, layout, ad copy, value propositions to see what works best for your target audience
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6. Lead Collection
 What happens after a member clicks your ad?
– Drive Lead Generation / Direct Response banners & InMail directly to a lead form; the form
should be prominent on the page, above the fold, and should have as few required fields
as possible (drop off rates increase with each additional form field)
– You can use a the Sign In with LinkedIn plugin as an option to simplify the process
– Avoid sending members to a general information page or requesting “Contact Us” via email
when the goal is lead generation
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7. Sponsored Polls
 Question recommendations
– Construct questions so that the poll results and comments
will be relevant and interesting to the professionals
answering – ask yourself if people would share it
– Avoid questions directly about your school/program; the Poll
is already branded and members may not be familiar with
these details
– Be as brief as possible in your question and answers
– Avoid yes/no questions (e.g. are you interested in getting an
MBA?); these polls perform below average and results are
less interesting
– Do not ask leading questions (e.g. how much do you like
this?)
– Consider whether there is a genuine desire for audience
insight (i.e. can the Poll responses help inform what future
messaging would be most appealing to this audience)
 Poll answer recommendations
– Avoid including answer options with a negative connotation–
don’t give members an opportunity to vote for / comment on
a negative attribute
– Consider options such as “none of these” or “other” where a
member is encouraged to leave his/her response in the
comments section
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8. Content Ad Units
 Consider including:
- Video: these units tend to be more engaging and increase performance
- RSS feeds such as Twitter
- Any unusual feeds like Events
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9. Sponsored InMail
 General guidelines
- Keep copy brief and focus on one action
- Begin with the bottom line. Share the purpose of your message upfront to help members
answer “what is this, and where do I go?” Deliver this information in the subject line and
first sentence of your Sponsored InMail message to lead members to your desired
outcome
- For best results, craft a message that is well-suited for the professional audience in our
network. Address the recipient by name, and send the message from the inbox of a
specified employee to increase personalization and enhance authenticity.
- Include School logo in Inbox image
- Utilize 300x600 unit when possible
(more visually balanced)
 Direct response use cases
- Promotional offer (e.g. discount code,
special pricing)
- Invitation for an event (e.g. webinar, Open
House, Info Session
- Content download (e.g., white paper)
- Deadline reminder (e.g. application deadline)
- Join Group invitation
- Information teaser
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10. Inadmissible Advertising & Specifications
Please review Specifications and Inadmissible advertising policy at:
http://adspecs.linkedincreatives.com/
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11. Thank you.
LinkedIn Confidential ©2012 All Rights Reserved